This Week in Farming: Groundswell, muck and profiteering

Howdy and welcome to another edition of This Week in Farming, a run-through of the best of this week’s Farmers Weekly content.

Here are five topics from the past seven days that you really won’t want to have missed.

Muck and nutrient special

Where there’s muck, there’s money, as the saying goes – so this week we’ve done a special slew of content devoted to all things related to managing manure and nutrients.

Here’s a recap in the business section of how the fertiliser market has changed since the turbulence generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

And over in livestock, there’s some handy reminders on making the most of expensive bagged nitrogen in grassland.

There may have been a shift to increased liquid fertiliser use in recent years, but deputy arable editor David Jones went to visit one grower who still favours solid nitrogen in his milling wheats.

Meanwhile, machinery editor Oliver Mark visits a contractor for an in-depth look at the eye-poppingly large, self-propelled slurry tanker Vervaet’s Quad XL, and James Andrews runs the rule over two pivot-steer loaders, a diesel JCB and an electric Avant.

Supermarket profiteering?

Are supermarkets scooping too much money out of the food chain? They, of course, said no at a parliamentary committee hearing on the topic this week.

Yet farming leaders are not so sure. Speaking to deputy editor Abi Kay this week, Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn said that the gaps between the farmgate and retail price on many products are massive.

What else has driven up food prices in the past few years? Well, less access to migrant labour for one thing, according to a fresh report published this week.

It warned that farmers face significant obstacles in recruiting and retaining a competent workforce. The government will respond in full in the autumn.

Groundswell recap

Farmers were out in force this week at the country’s biggest regenerative farming event, Groundswell.

With 5,000 people through the gates on Wednesday – reportedly 20% up on the year – it’s clear there’s plenty of interest in methods of growing crops and raising livestock that will improve the soil and reduce reliance on inputs.

Few farmers will have left the field as pleased as Northumberland farmer Stuart Johnson, who took home the prestigious Soil Farmer of the Year Award, with runners-up from south Wales and County Tyrone.

In my editorial this week, I propose a nickname for the second wave of farmers having a dabble in this way of farming – the “quiet regenners” – and gave some advice on how they can be spotted in the wild.

Farm fatalities

As the summer holidays draw near, farm leaders have issued a fresh plea for folk to keep families safe in what can often be a dangerous and fast-moving environment.

The farming industry is already at nearly half the annual average number of deaths after just the past two to three months, according to NFU vice-president David Exwood.

Look back now at how FW tackled the issue in 2022 with our Dying to Feed You campaign.

Britain’s Fittest Farmer finalists

On a lighter note, after three incredible qualifying events, the farmers going through to the final of Britain’s Fittest Farmer can now be revealed.

Competitors tackled gruelling challenges at Devon, Lincolnshire and the Highland Show.

See who will be vying for the trophy at the final this September in Essex.